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Problems with DWP Is it possible to get backdated sick/fit notes?
fat-pudding
Posts: 161 Forumite
Hi all,
Got a bit of a problem with the DWP (surprise!). I was working until early March this year when I lost my job. My partner is ill and can't work so before my employment ended we spoke to the DWP to see which benefits we would be entitled to (my partner already gets Income Support contributions only). All along they told us that we would have to make a claim for ESA.
The day after my job finished we contacted the DWP to make a claim for ESA. On this phone call we were told we couldn't claim ESA and that we had to claim Income Support. So we made the claim over the phone, filled in the paperwork when it was posted to us and returned it. At the beginning of April we got a letter refusing our claim for IS as "you have made a claim for ESA" which wasn't true. So we followed this up with the BDC and were told that we had made a mistake and claimed IS when we should have claimed ESA.
I pointed out that we had only claimed IS as we were told we could not claim ESA and that this was their mistake not ours. We called the contact centre back to tell them we needed to make a claim to ESA and were told by the contact centre that the BDC were wrong and we needed to claim IS. After a bit more backwards and forwards between the departments we got told to we would be sent a clerical claim pack for ESA which we received and filled in and my partner then went to the doctors to get a sick note as required and we sent the claim pack off in mid April.
This morning as we'd heard nothing and don't trust the DWP very much we contacted them to ask if our papers had been received and they confirmed that they had and went through them with us on the phone. The advisor on the phone was very irate as we put we wanted to claim ESA from the beginning of March and he told us that as the sick note is dated from mid April benefit would only be paid from them. I pointed out to him that the reasons we did not have an earlier sick not was because of their mistake in telling us we could not apply for ESA and he told me that basically it was tough and our fault and we couldn't do anything about this! Currently we're waiting to hear the result of this claim and get the paperwork back from them. This has left my partner in a real state and aggravated her illness and she is really worried over what happens next as losing nearly £600 in benefits money is not ideal for us. We have already made a claim for maladministration as they sent us a letter with the wrong reasons on it for denying the IS claim and also to complain over the way they handled our initial contacts with them (as we were advised to by the CAB) and as yet we've only received a note telling us that they are investigating.
My questions are, originally my partner was told (and we still have a copy of the letter stating this) that she was no longer required to send in sick notes for her IS credits as her review date was set to 2020. Obviously for this reason we have no sick notes since then (about mid 2007). Now if we are refused benefit from March what can we do? Can we get a backdated sick note from the doctor? (we tried calling the doctor today to ask them and they didn't come back to us) Can we just appeal directly on all the evidence we have that this is a claim for the same condition and on the basis that they already know that she was ill having made her do a few incapacity assessments in the past and we have cover letters from several doctors saying she has been ill for over a decade.
I'm so utterly frustrated by the attitude of the DWP staff who keep blaming us for their incompetence and mistakes as if it's our fault. If they hadn't have messed up in the first place we'd have got a sick note immediately and not any of this mucking about. It's really making me angry as we are only claiming benefits due to me not having suitable work and I am still looking for a suitable job but they just assume that everyone who is sick would rather claim benefits than work and can't get their heads around why when I can find suitable work I provide for my family. Sorry about the rant but they've really got to me today.
Got a bit of a problem with the DWP (surprise!). I was working until early March this year when I lost my job. My partner is ill and can't work so before my employment ended we spoke to the DWP to see which benefits we would be entitled to (my partner already gets Income Support contributions only). All along they told us that we would have to make a claim for ESA.
The day after my job finished we contacted the DWP to make a claim for ESA. On this phone call we were told we couldn't claim ESA and that we had to claim Income Support. So we made the claim over the phone, filled in the paperwork when it was posted to us and returned it. At the beginning of April we got a letter refusing our claim for IS as "you have made a claim for ESA" which wasn't true. So we followed this up with the BDC and were told that we had made a mistake and claimed IS when we should have claimed ESA.
I pointed out that we had only claimed IS as we were told we could not claim ESA and that this was their mistake not ours. We called the contact centre back to tell them we needed to make a claim to ESA and were told by the contact centre that the BDC were wrong and we needed to claim IS. After a bit more backwards and forwards between the departments we got told to we would be sent a clerical claim pack for ESA which we received and filled in and my partner then went to the doctors to get a sick note as required and we sent the claim pack off in mid April.
This morning as we'd heard nothing and don't trust the DWP very much we contacted them to ask if our papers had been received and they confirmed that they had and went through them with us on the phone. The advisor on the phone was very irate as we put we wanted to claim ESA from the beginning of March and he told us that as the sick note is dated from mid April benefit would only be paid from them. I pointed out to him that the reasons we did not have an earlier sick not was because of their mistake in telling us we could not apply for ESA and he told me that basically it was tough and our fault and we couldn't do anything about this! Currently we're waiting to hear the result of this claim and get the paperwork back from them. This has left my partner in a real state and aggravated her illness and she is really worried over what happens next as losing nearly £600 in benefits money is not ideal for us. We have already made a claim for maladministration as they sent us a letter with the wrong reasons on it for denying the IS claim and also to complain over the way they handled our initial contacts with them (as we were advised to by the CAB) and as yet we've only received a note telling us that they are investigating.
My questions are, originally my partner was told (and we still have a copy of the letter stating this) that she was no longer required to send in sick notes for her IS credits as her review date was set to 2020. Obviously for this reason we have no sick notes since then (about mid 2007). Now if we are refused benefit from March what can we do? Can we get a backdated sick note from the doctor? (we tried calling the doctor today to ask them and they didn't come back to us) Can we just appeal directly on all the evidence we have that this is a claim for the same condition and on the basis that they already know that she was ill having made her do a few incapacity assessments in the past and we have cover letters from several doctors saying she has been ill for over a decade.
I'm so utterly frustrated by the attitude of the DWP staff who keep blaming us for their incompetence and mistakes as if it's our fault. If they hadn't have messed up in the first place we'd have got a sick note immediately and not any of this mucking about. It's really making me angry as we are only claiming benefits due to me not having suitable work and I am still looking for a suitable job but they just assume that everyone who is sick would rather claim benefits than work and can't get their heads around why when I can find suitable work I provide for my family. Sorry about the rant but they've really got to me today.
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Comments
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Providing your GP is willing, he can backdate a Fit note.
You can backdate a claim for ESA by up to three months, assuming you can get the Fit notes.0 -
There is no such thing as contributions based IS or IS credits.
My GP told me that they cant back date sick notes like they did with sick notes.0 -
Sorry that came out a bit wrong, she was/is getting IS National Insurance Credits only. Thanks for the advice on the fit note, we'll speak to the GP and get a backdated one then, if we can't and the DWP argue the toss I'll just appeal and send them all the documentation we have to support that. Some of it is in foreign languages and totals over 100 pages, if they want to be difficult so can I!
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My GP backdated a fit note last October for me (for DWP) 3 months. As someone has mentioned, you can claim a back date for ESA up to 3 months, which is what I did.
Just take your letter and show it to your GPJust sold a lawnmower on Ebay.. That's the last time my neighbour will wake me up on a Saturday morning!0
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